I'm Leaving Mojang

He sounds depressed and frustrated. All I see is bad emotions in all that.

With all the money he has, he could at least try to share or expand his passion in some way.

It's true that he's lucky, you sense the modesty, that he doesn't want to be perceived as talented.

But even if that's true, he could at least try a little bit more. I mean he seems content with his work, but if I had such fame, at least I'd try to use it and approach game companies to negotiate deals, and share his vision of gaming.

Hasn't he ever tried to lead some team and get in touch with programmers he likes to do something ? Can't individuals like him hire a manager to do the job and project his vision into something ? I mean aren't there decent people able to know when there's potential, and solve the relational stuff ?

I mean you can't be modest like that all the time. at some point it's grumpiness, not modesty.

I wish there were businessmen able to notice those modest, hard working loners and just get small companies working with them. Not even companies, just small teams and projects. Some coaching. I wonder what's Carmack's story. I'd love to hear about the work stories of those guys, or maybe hear them talk about work politics. Of course they don't want to, because they might be made fun of, but meh.

I thought the story was directed to the general readership, in which case I find it a naive oversimplification of wealth/labor and raldi's addendum to it realistic. If it applied specifically to notch, his financial freedom would be very obvious to a passing businessmen; ie, he'd be ordering burgers from the local joint to feed himself, not slaughtering cattle for meat (unless he enjoys that part).

Only Hollywood seems to think we all work like rats without considering why. If I had all my student loans, car, house, retirement, recreational allowance provided for, I might never touch a keyboard again.

Point being "striving for excess without considering your needs" is more concise and accurate than any interpretation of this "parable".

I don't think it's sad at all. It's great that Notch is doing what makes him happy. And honestly, I think he's much more likely to continue to do things that benefit the world if he follows this intuition rather than feeling duty bound to build things that are as big and impactful as possible.

Honestly I think his is more of an artistic than entrepreneurial mindset. How many artists set out to "change the world" with their art? Not many. But still many do.

This may be a weird reference, but what comes to mind is John Frusciante leaving Red Hot Chili Peppers at the height of their fame. He quit in the middle of the tour after Blood Sugar Sex Magik, after they became unexpectedly huge.

He just wanted to make music and play in small clubs. And he went back to playing guitar by himself and making solo albums. (Also heroin use, but that's a different story).

And he rejoined in '98 or so, had 3 huge hit records, and then left again a few years ago. He made a few more solo albums and experimented with electronic music.

Some people are not cut out for fame. The intrinsic joy of what they do is even more powerful than fame.

It's his life he can do what he wants.